A free coloring page of a single large kiku — a decorative chrysanthemum whose narrow petals curl outward in ring after ring from a tight centre. Working from the middle out, then shading the two broad leaves below, gives a striking result with just a few colours. Made for adults, seniors and care activities. Download and print the PDF for free, no registration required.
🗣 Conversation Starters — for care activities and family time
Have you ever grown chrysanthemums? What sort were they?
Have you been to a chrysanthemum show, or to a kiku-ningyo exhibition where the blooms are arranged onto life-size figures?
Have you ever tasted edible chrysanthemum, such as mottenohoka or kakinomoto?
Have you placed chrysanthemums at a grave or on a family altar?
Is the chrysanthemum Japan’s national flower?
Japan has no national flower fixed in law, but the chrysanthemum stands alongside the cherry blossom as an emblem of the country, and the stylised kikkamon is the crest of the Imperial family. The plant came from China around the Nara period and was prized at court in the Heian period; the Double Ninth festival on September 9 is still called the Chrysanthemum Festival.
Can chrysanthemums be eaten?
Certain cultivars are, yes. Yellow and purple edible varieties — mottenohoka from Yamagata and kakinomoto from Niigata are the best known — are blanched and dressed, or served in vinegar. Petals floated in sake, kikuzake, are drunk as a wish for long life.
What makes chrysanthemums demanding to grow?
Light is the tricky part. Chrysanthemums are short-day plants: they set flower buds as the days shorten, so growers of the big show blooms use night lighting to hold back or advance flowering to the day they want. Growing them together is a popular seasonal activity in care homes for exactly that reason — there is something to check on every week.
